In new radio, sometimes referred to as 5G, user equipment computes channel estimates based on pilot or reference signals from the 5G system, and computes the parameters needed for channel state information (CSI) reporting. A CSI report, including channel quality indicator (CQI) data, is sent from the user equipment to a network device on demand via a feedback channel on request from the network, and/or the user equipment may be configured to send the CSI report periodically. A network scheduler uses this information in choosing the parameters for scheduling of this particular user equipment. The network sends the scheduling parameters to the user equipment in a downlink control channel. After that, actual data transfer takes place from the network to the user equipment.
In new radio, the network configures the user equipment with which CQI table (Table 2 or 3, widely published) is to be used for CQI reporting using higher layer message signaling. Similarly the network configures the user equipment with which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table (Table 4 or 5, also widely published) using higher layer message (Radio Resource Control, or RRC) signaling. For MCS table configuration, the network configures the user equipment based on whether the user equipment has the capability to support 256-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) or not. That is, if the user equipment is capable of receiving 256-QAM transmissions from the network, the MCS table 5 is configured by the network to be used by the user equipment, otherwise MCS table 4 is configured.